I have been doing a lot of research online in order to prepare for our upcoming group sensory play date. While thumbing through an array of Google searches, I stumbled upon GLOW WATER! I was beyond excited! We have already been having so much fun exploring with our black light, and the discovery of glow water was sure to open up a whole new world of play!
Making glow water is simple! All you need are non-toxic UV reactive highlighters or markers and water. You can find 2-packs of jumbo highlighters at Target for under $1.00. Pop the back off of the marker, and pull out the ink soaked felt that is inside. Then run the felt under a small stream of water with a bowl underneath to catch it. I used roughly 6 cups of water per highlighter, and ended up with insanely bright glow water. It could definitely be diluted further, but I wanted it to GLOW!
GLOWING Water
I found a lot of varying information while researching glow water online. One site said that only yellow highlighters can be used to make glow water and that not all yellow highlighters work. Another site said only yellow and orange highlighters can be used, and again, not all are guaranteed to work. After I made the yellow glow water, I was so in awe and made it my mission to find a way to make other colors. Given the conflicting information I was finding, I knew it was going to take a bit of trail and error.
I tried to make glow water using every other color highlighter that I had on hand, and none of them glowed. I was so disappointed, as some of the highlighters would glow in the black light when you used them to write, but then the water would not glow. However, I did not give up! I thought surely there must be another colored marker that is UV reactive, and would make UV reactive water.
I scrummaged through my adult art supplies and came across some Colorific gel markers I had bought some time ago. I tested a few of the colors under the black light, and some of them appeared to be UV reactive. So, I decided to give them a try.
I was so pleasantly surprised to discover a few of them had worked! Some colors worked better than others and some not at all, but I was just so excited that some had worked!
All together I found four glowing water colors!
This was the result of the yellow highlighter glow water!
The orange Colorific gel marker worked REALLY well! It didn't glow quite as intensely as the yellow highlighter, but almost!
And let me just tell you, the picture does not do it justice. This water GLOWS!
The green gel marker also glowed really bright!
The purple water glowed, but needed to be held close to the blacklight in order for you to see the effect.
I also tried the red and blue Colorific gel markers, but to my dismay, neither glowed. Naturally , I was hoping to find a marker that would make glow water in every color of the rainbow. However, I have four colors for now, and am still on a mission to find more!
~~~ An update from the original post: glowing activities!!~~~~
We have had so much fun with this glowing water!!!
There are so many ways this glowing water can be used during play. Here are some of our favorite ways that we have played with it:
For even more blacklight play inspiration, check out our Glowing Play Collection
We share fun kids activities several times a week!
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